I love murals and public art. I love being surprised when I turn the corner to find something unexpected adding beauty to a blank wall. At their best, murals can create community – giving voice to the community and creating an identity based on input from neighbors and friends. At their worst, murals can serve in an imperialistic way to claim territory and force imagery and ideas upon the affected area.

Recently, a mural on Third Street was white washed to make room for a new art piece. The mural removed was bright, hopeful, and most importantly, created with input from the community.

New Orleans based actor Wendell Pierce said, "Our thoughts are to the individual, as our art is to the community."

This quote to me, says you can see the values of the community by looking at what they value as art. Detroit is bankrupt and fighting tooth and nail to hold on to their art, yet here in Harrisburg, we have a group that appears to be quick to void the art and community that came before them.

I believe that Harrisburg needs more murals and more public art, but not at the expense of existing pieces. I hope the community can rise above this and work together to introduce more public art and murals that work as a collaboration between the community, neighbors, friends, and artists because that's the kind of community I want to live in and the kind of movement I want to be a part of.

JEFF COPUS, Harrisburg

The author is collaborating with TriCounty Community Action to install community-created art pieces onto blighted buildings within South Allison Hill.